Classic or Modern Sonic?

[Vertekins]

Classic Sonic on that cover has eyes that look exactly like the stoned westernized Sonic on the covers of Sonic 1 and 2 Mega Drive. It's just horrible. That render just epitomizes all that was wrong about making games characters of japanese origin more hardcore back in the nineties even if gamer attitudes back in the day "demanded it"

[CanofEpicSauce]

I don't really see the hate towards Western Sonic. He looked perfectly fine in this cover IMO.

He looks more dynamic and streamlined compared to the Japanese Sonic

Not to say I think Western Sonic is better, but I just thought I should give my thoughts. However I will say that he looked horrendeous in the Western Sonic 3 cover.

Edited April 15, 2011 by CanofEpicSauce

[batson]

I don't really see the hate towards Western Sonic. He looked perfectly fine in this cover IMO.

He looks more dynamic and streamlined compared to the Japanese Sonic

Not to say I think Western Sonic is better, but I just thought I should give my thoughts. However I will say that he looked horrendeous in the Western Sonic 3 cover.

Im afraid i cant agree with you, since that Japanese artwork is probably my favorite Sonic image ever. He looks absolutely perfect there, as far as i am concerned. And look at those big, beautifully shaped eyes of his! So much more appealing than the narrower eyes of classic western Sonic OR modern Sonic.

Edited April 15, 2011 by batson

[CanofEpicSauce]

Im afraid i cant agree with you, since that Japanese artwork is probably my favorite Sonic image ever. He looks absolutely perfect there, as far as i am concerned. And look at those big, rounded beautiful eyes of his! So much more appealing than the narrower eyes of classic western Sonic OR modern Sonic.

I just think the hate towards him is unjustified. I didn't mind Western Sonic's appearance of the cover art for Sonic 1. He did look bad in the cover art for Sonic 3 however.

Edited April 15, 2011 by CanofEpicSauce

[Nepenthe]

I actually prefer the Sonic 3 art: Better color, better muzzle, and he's simply drawn better, if I were to try and justify what I think is ultimately nostalgia for me; really, western Sonic is ultimately western Sonic.

Who in turn is worse than eastern Sonic. The western design's facial features have always been so extreme and cocky as to completely underscore his Mickey origins, and sitting next to modern Sonic who is looking right sensible now makes me want to poke him in his eye(s). Nevertheless, that's simply a design problem in and of itself, not one inherent to the new art. It's by miles the best classic model we've ever had and gets the point across well; I'm fine with it.

However, he looks better in the trailer, and I don't see the problem with that particular model either. He's friggin' cute. Seriously.

But regardless of all this, I prefer modern Sonic anyways.

Edited April 15, 2011 by Nepenthe

[Frank Sinatra]

The artwork and background colours on the US Sonic 1 boxart make it one of my favourite Sonic boxart covers it just looks so cool and simplistic.

[CanofEpicSauce]

I actually prefer the Sonic 3 art: Better color, better muzzle, and he's simply drawn better, if I were to try and justify what I think is ultimately nostalgia for me; really, western Sonic is ultimately western Sonic.

Who in turn is worse than eastern Sonic. The western design's facial features have always been so extreme and cocky as to completely underscore his Mickey origins, and sitting next to modern Sonic who is looking right sensible now makes me want to poke him in his eye(s). Nevertheless, that's simply a design problem in and of itself, not one inherent to the new art. It's by miles the best classic model we've ever had and gets the point across well; I'm fine with it.

However, he looks better in the trailer, and I don't see the problem with that particular model either. He's friggin' cute. Seriously.

But regardless of all this, I prefer modern Sonic anyways.

Edited April 15, 2011 by CanofEpicSauce

[batson]

This is what I'd classify as butt face Sonic.

Edited April 15, 2011 by batson

[Blue Blood]

Pardon me good sir, but i do believe the proper term is ass-face Sonic.

When will you all realise that it looks much more like feminine than that? Vageyena.

I will admit that C.Sonic looks decidedly American in the Generations art, but he still fixes all the problems problems the American art had back then. Zero complaints.

Edited April 15, 2011 by Blue Blood

[batson]

I kinda wonder why they went with such a western-looking design though. It somehow seems uncharacteristic of Sega, since they've usually ignored the old western elements of Sonic ever since Sonic Adventure came out. For instance, just look at all the merchandise based around Classic Sonic that's been released over the last decade or so, it has almost exclusively featured Classic Japanese Sonic.

[Frank Sinatra]

I kinda wonder why they went with such a western-looking design though. It somehow seems uncharacteristic of Sega, since they've usually ignored the old western elements of Sonic ever since Sonic Adventure came out. For instance, just look at all the merchandise based around Classic Sonic that's been released over the last decade or so, it has almost exclusively featured Classic Japanese Sonic.

It's also in my opinion alot better that way, western Sonic's eyes are way to narrow amongst other things. Some of the early artworks alright but I can't stand his circa 1993 american design. For some reason his expressions aren't anywhere near as emoting as japanese Sonic although at this point i'm just nitpicking.

[Core]

I kinda wonder why they went with such a western-looking design though. It somehow seems uncharacteristic of Sega, since they've usually ignored the old western elements of Sonic ever since Sonic Adventure came out. For instance, just look at all the merchandise based around Classic Sonic that's been released over the last decade or so, it has almost exclusively featured Classic Japanese Sonic.

I think they've been slowly adding parts of the Western continuity into the Japanese one... first the name Robotnik, then the chilidogs, and now a half-Western Classic Sonic.

(on a side note, it makes me wonder if the term "badnik" has ever been used in Japanese)

[Djawed]

I think the sonic model on the box cover is delibiratly done to make a link with the US box art, since that is what alot recognize. The sonic in the trailer looks nothing like the sonic on the cover/ It's a nice touch for the lulz but honestly I always thought the US sonic looks hideous. I'm from the netherlands so it was o nly sonic 2 which had him on the cover, I always thought he looked hideous and nothing like the sonic on the title screen.

This is more like it.

They look nothing like each other.

Edited April 15, 2011 by Jaouad

[Scar]

I'm telling you, its just the pose they put him in. Nothing wrong with the model itself.

Also, Batson, the dimension and shape of Sonic's eyes are basically the same in all iterations of him. There are few, millimetric size differences, that aren't even noticable.

Edited April 15, 2011 by Scar

[Blue Blood]

I really wish people would get to know the different between a "model" and "render". Eesh. The model on the box is the same model as in the trailer. However, like Scar said he's posed in an odd way. His eyes are smaller than Japanese C.Sonic both in the trailer and on the box, but if anything the massive shift expression just shows how versatile and irrefutably better he is

[Mega]

Sonic 1 title screen looks like Western Sonic. I think this was true of the Japanese version too.

[azoo]

I think that was what they made "western Sonic" from. Got the same hand from the S1 American cover and everything. Funny too, because the Sonic 1 title screen seems to be a pretty blegh tracing of the concept title banner pictures Oshima drew up for Sonic 1.

[Blue Blood]

Haha! Would you look at that? He even has the eyegina! See the thing is, Japanese C.Sonic's eyes looked fairly soft and gentle most of the time, but he moves his brow a lot making for many different expressions. The American design however kept his brow fixed looking angry/badass all the time. I've just rewatched the Generations trailer and C.Sonic there has so much more eyebrow movement than M.Sonic, and that just makes him so much more emotive. It's not even a flaw of M.Sonic's design, it's just the animation. Check it:

Why have we only seen that degree of expression from M.Sonic in the Sonic Unleashed shorts and Night of the Werehog? He needs it! It would make him ten times more appealing in an instant.

Edited April 16, 2011 by Blue Blood

[Sean]

I just realized that classic Sonic isn't holding his hands behind his back like a retard while running. This pleases me.

[Mega]

Why have we only seen that degree of expression from M.Sonic in the Sonic Unleashed shorts and Night of the Werehog? He needs it! It would make him ten times more appealing in an instant.

That's one of my biggest problems with Modern Sonic. His animations are almost always so "cool" that it makes him less than endearing to me. :|a

[sonfan1984]

I just realized that classic Sonic isn't holding his hands behind his back like a retard while running. This pleases me.

I like M.Sonic running style.

[Mega]

Not gonna lie. M. Sonic running style reminds me of chocobos.

[Blue Blood]

Depends how it's done. He looks cool in Unleashed and Colours, but in '06 he thinks he's a plane and in SA2 it looks like he's going to fall over with every step. Of course, running that way serves no purpose other than to look cool. His arms are total dead weights like that. Same for the way C.Sonic runs with his arms held in from of him (not in the trailer, also in S4). But it looks cool so it's all good.

Edited April 16, 2011 by Blue Blood

[Scar]

I just realized that classic Sonic isn't holding his hands behind his back like a retard while running. This pleases me.

Well, it makes more sense physically. What with the air forcing you hands back.

Well, I prefer it to the the way Classic Sonic held his hands forwards while running, because that literally makes no sense at all.

Haha! Would you look at that? He even has the eyegina! See the thing is, Japanese C.Sonic's eyes looked fairly soft and gentle most of the time, but he moves his brow a lot making for many different expressions. The American design however kept his brow fixed looking angry/badass all the time. I've just rewatched the Generations trailer and C.Sonic there has so much more eyebrow movement than M.Sonic, and that just makes him so much more emotive. It's not even a flaw of M.Sonic's design, it's just the animation. Check it:

Why have we only seen that degree of expression from M.Sonic in the Sonic Unleashed shorts and Night of the Werehog? He needs it! It would make him ten times more appealing in an instant.

Yeah. You see.

You can't say a particular version of Sonic is any more or less expressive than the other. Why? Because it really depends on how much effort the animators put into the bringing the model to life.

Edited April 16, 2011 by Scar

[Djawed]

I really wish people would get to know the different between a "model" and "render". Eesh. The model on the box is the same model as in the trailer. However, like Scar said he's posed in an odd way. His eyes are smaller than Japanese C.Sonic both in the trailer and on the box, but if anything the massive shift expression just shows how versatile and irrefutably better he is

To me they look more like SEGA renders than those done by Marza in the trailer; both of them. I don't think it's the same model. His quills look huge too, but yeah I could be wrong. Not an expert or anything.

Edited April 16, 2011 by Jaouad